True Blood and Charlaine Harris’ Vampires

With the latest release of Charlaine Harris‘ tenth book, “Dead in the Family“, many Charlaine Harris and True Blood fans are getting their hunger quenched. Many fans of the book series and of the show can be quite passionate as to who they would like to see with the protagonist Sookie Stackhouse, thus leading to many discussions and debate regarding which vampires should win Sookie‘s heart.

I was honored to be interviewed by Sarah Seltzer for her article in the “Speakeasy” section of the Wall Street Journal where she examined and contrasted between Bill Compton and Eric Northman both from the point of the show and the books. As many try to compare the two characters from the two mediums, I was asked for my observations based on the many discussions I have seen on this topic.

“Ollie Chong, the Editor/administrator of truebloodnet.com, explains the difference more succinctly: “In the books and show, the roles are reversed — who is the bad guy, who is the good guy? If you watch the TV series first, you’re likely to be more pro-Bill, but if you read the books first you like Eric.”

As many regular readers of this website are aware we try our best to maintain civility in our discussions about the differences and why we see them. I would like to expand on the above statement by emphasizing that this is a general statement based on discussions and comments I have read and participated in, thus it is not absolute or all encompassing. Many have commented that they see a role reversal in the translation from the books to the TV show while others have mentioned that books fans tend to be more “Team Eric” while fans of the show tend to be more “Team Bill“. Again it does not mean everyone feels this way.

We here at TrueBloodNet.com are “Team True Blood” which should be emphasized, not marginalized and realize that the two mediums are very different from each other and there is no need to choose. We should enjoy them both for what they give us, escape from the everyday world.

Ms. Seltzer brings up some points that some may or may not agree with, but one thing I would like to point out (as I stated in her comment section) is that there is no need to disrespect any of the characters in the show because you end up not only disrespecting the actors but put an unfavorable light on who True Blood fans are. So let’s remain civil in our discussions and stand united in proclaiming Bill Compton and Eric Northman are two of the hottest vampires in the media.